Chapter 17: The Uprising Part 7: The Riess Family

As the visual link fades, I can see Eren staring blankly at the floor. He shakes his head slightly, but then hangs it low as if confessing to a crime. "Yes," says Riess, "I'm afraid it's true. Your father wanted the power for himself, so he attacked us when we were all together and killed every one of them. I saw him crush my daughters under his foot and saw my son pulverised against the walls. My wife was crushed by a falling rock. And my eldest daughter Frieda, was eaten alive."

At the name Frieda, Historia suddenly turns pale. "I, I know that name," she stammers, "Why, why did I forget it? Why did I forget her?"

Rod Riess places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "For your own safety, it's likely Frieda erased your memories of her."

"Erased?"

"That is one of the aspects of the power of the Coordinate. Not only does it give the bearer the power to transform into a titan themselves, but it also allows control over the minds of both humans and titans."

'What?!'

"What?!"

"I myself have been subject to the influence of this power so I only so much. A hundred years ago the First King created the Walls by using his titan abilities. He was far more powerful than any titan or person alive today. Not only did he create the Walls but he influenced the minds of those living within them, so that they would not remember how they came to be within the Walls, or how the Titans themselves came to be. That is, with some exceptions."

'Exceptions?'

"Most people within the Walls are all descended from a central blood strain. They are all of a certain race you see. However, there are some within the Walls who are from one of the five old families from beyond the Walls that are resistant to the control of Coordinate. These families all came from far off lands, though over time they have mingled with our own population and are now almost indistinguishable from the others."

"Not all of us," says Forrae with a clear note of pride in her voice.

"So, who are these families?" asks Historia. Her voice implies she's still somewhat dazed and overwhelmed by all of the new information. She keeps asking anyway.

"By this point you're familiar with all of them. The Ackerman family come from the Far East, beyond all semblance of knowledge we currently have of the world outside. The Yeager Family is an interesting exception since they are actually from within the same race as the others, thought do originated in the south. The Quinn Family are from an island in the North West, the Juvel Family from an ice covered land in the far north and the Leonhart Family from somewhere far to the south. The descendants from these five families are the only ones able to make use of titan abilities and it is traditional for the knowledge that the families hold to be passed down each generation.

"From what I can tell that practice has grown somewhat lax. Sometimes by design, sometimes by accident. Never the less the amount of knowledge the old families posses has greatly decreased over a century of peace."

"I still don't understand," says Historia, putting a hand to her head. "What is all of this about? Why did you kidnap us?"

Rod Riess sighs. "I didn't want to have to resort to such extreme measures but there was no other way to get you and Eren here. Understand me Historia; I never wanted any of this to happen. You are the heir to the Coordinate power, the rightful heir. The destruction of Wall Maria only occurred because the balance had been tipped and the Riess Family no longer had the power. If it is returned to us then it can be used to force the Titans to abandon Wall Maria and we will have peace again."

'If it's the Coordinate that controls the Titans, why can't Eren just do it?' I ask suspiciously. He doesn't seem to be lying, but there is some kind of deception going on, I just can't tell what it is.

"Because, Eren is not a Riess. The Coordinate power was fashioned to be used only by the Riess family, anyone from outside of the family cannot utilise its full potential. Besides, it isn't just a matter of removing the Titans and stoppering the Wall. It was laid down a hundred years ago that it should be the Riess Family who hold the power, and no other. He won't have it any other way. If you were to retake the Walls he would simply knock them down again."

"Who's he?" asks Historia. Her eyes seem to be alive with apprehension and confusion. I can feel panic emanating from her as well, coming off in waves.

"I don't really know," admits Rod Riess with a shake of his bald head. "My brother and my daughter called him the First King."

"But, but the first king would be long dead after all of these years."

"I doubt they were being literal. Although, there's really no way to be sure. There's only one person alive who knows exactly who and what he is, and she isn't willing to divulge any information."

"You already know all you need to Riess," snaps Forrae. "I'm under orders from someone far more powerful than you."

Riess grunts irritably. "The point is, the balance has been upset and it needs to be restored. Historia, you need to reclaim the power and become Queen. I can't do it myself; I'm far too old by this point to have any heir to pass it onto besides you. You are the only one who can do it, the only one who can stop this carnage."

'He isn't lying! He's, he's really telling the truth!'

Historia swallows nervously and looks up at her father. "How?" she asks cautiously.

Rod Riess smiles and reaches inside of his suit jacket. He takes out a small rectangular wooden box. He opens it to reveal four glass cylinders containing a pale green fluid, and a syringe with which to inject them. "A dose of this will transform an individual into a titan. Once transformed they will be a regular titan until they consume someone with the ability to titan shift. At that point they will gain full control over their mind and will be able to revert back to their true form."

"You, you want me to, to," Historia breaks off, putting a hand over her mouth as she realises fully just what she's being asked to do. "You want me to eat him!"

"I'm sorry, it's the only way."

'Dear god, he's still not lying!'

"Forrae, finish preparing the boy for the ceremony," order Riess pointing at Eren. Forrae enters my field of vision, dressed now in a set of simple black clothes with a red trim around the edges. Pulling a knife out from a sheath at her belt she cuts a shallow line across Eren's forehead. Blood begins to trickle down into his eyes. She then bends down and removes the metal gag from his mouth. Eren gasps slightly as she does so.

I look back at Historia. She's shut her eyes and has her head angled down towards the gleaming white floor. "I, I can't," she whispers.

"Historia," says Eren firmly. "Do it."

"What?!" she shrieks. "You can't actually want me to do that can you?"

"Yes I can! I was never important, it was all a lie! All those people who died to the Titans: Thomas, Nac, Mina, Marco, Petra, Oluo, Eld, Gunther, Hannes. My own mother! He killed them; my father killed all of them! He took away the one thing that could have allowed us to beat them because he was a filthy, greedy, bastard. Then he stuck it me and killed himself in the process. We need to fix this Historia, and the only way we can do that is if you take this power back. You can defeat them, drive them all out. That's the one thing I always wanted so please, do it!"

"I, I, I..."

'Historia!' I scream at her mentally. She snaps her head up and looks at me. 'Historia I'm sorry but he's right. I know when people lie, and your father isn't. This is the only way to fix things. I'm sorry but you have to do this.'

"But I can't!" she screams at me. "I can't just kill Eren! And what about, wait a second," she spins around to look at her father. "What do you even need Matthias for?"

"Edmund?" asks Riess, who's now holding a full syringe of the green liquid. "He is as much a part of this disturbance as Eren is. He was never meant to return to human form, never meant to grow up, never meant to be here. The balance must be reset, and for that he must die. His power to detect the truth and read the minds of others is also an ability that would be best placed in the hands of the rightful ruler, where it can be used to the greatest effect."

"You can't be serious! You want me to eat him as well?!"

Riess sighs, "I know it must be difficult for you to understand Historia, but after you have regained the Coordinate power, you will see."

"What will I see? The reason to kill the person I love!"

Rod Riess freezes. "What do you mean?" he asks, his voice going hollow.

"I won't kill Matthias, not for anything. I love him!"

'Historia don't be stupid!' I snap. She turns around to look at me. 'I'm just another piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit anywhere. Besides, it's just like Reiner said back when Eren and I were captured; I was the one that caused all of this. It's rather fitting that I should die to try and help put it right. If you can reclaim the Titan powers then you can retake Wall Maria within seconds. And there won't be any reason to stop there; you can go all the way and retake the entire world from them! Don't throw all that away just because of some fleeting romance.'

"Fleeting romance!" she exclaims. "How can you say that?"

'Because that's all it can be! You have to do this thing!'

"Yes, he's right!" cries out Eren from the dais. "You need to make things right again. Take the injection, restore the balance of power!"

'Bring back the world that we destroyed. Fix all of the damage that we've done.'

Historia trembles, tears running down her cheeks. Without a single word she holds out her hand to her father, and he slips the syringe into her palm. Her fingers close around it and she holds it in front of her, staring at the green liquid as if it were the end of the world made manifest. She brings the needle down so that it's touching the bare skin of her forearm. Then she stops. "There's something I want to know first," she says, her voice very grave. "Why do suddenly care about me so much, father?"

"I don't understand," says Rod Riess, and a bitter taste floods into my mouth as he lies.

"I think you do," says Historia, turning around and holding the needle by her side. "When I was growing up you wouldn't have anything to do with me. The only one who ever came to see me was Frieda. That night you told me to change my name, you said that my mother was of no further use to you. You seemed upset about that, but not as if you were losing someone you loved, more like a tool that a craftsman has become accustomed to using. You never loved her, and up until now you never did anything to imply that you loved me.

"I think I understand your words that night far better now. I was valuable only because I was Riess, the fact that I was your daughter had nothing to do with it. You sent me away to keep your life simple. Of course since I was such a valuable commodity you couldn't afford to let me be wasted in the jaws of a titan, so you had Forrae create the persona of Ymir to look after me. She always had my back in every situation, even though that clashed so much with her personality. Now you want me back because I'm old enough to do the job you wanted me for in the first place.

"And there's another thing," she continues, cutting of Rod Riess as he opens his mouth to reply. "If the power of the Coordinate allows a Riess to control the Titans and vanquish them, then why did none of the previous kings or queens try to do it?"

A shadow falls of the face of Roderick Riess. Up until now he'd maintained the appearance of a man compelled to take action. Now he just looks like a man driven deep into grief and regret. "You're very observant Historia, just like your mother always was. I did like her an awful lot you know. Having her killed was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The word was that the enemy was on the move now that Grisha Yeager had the Coordinate power. The El-Ekar were gathering for a strike against us. They most likely wanted to find and kill you. We couldn't allow that to happen so we sent you somewhere they'd never think to look for you.

"But then you went and revealed your identity. The El-Ekar began swarming around in their hundreds in the underworld and we knew it wouldn't be long before they found you. So, we had to move first to secure you. You matter to me Historia; you are the last family I have left."

Historia's expression doesn't change. Her gaze is stone cold, hollow and vindictive. "You didn't answer my second question," she says. "Why has no one ever tried to defeat the Titans before using the Coordinate power?"

Riess looks rather nervous now. "Because, every one of the previous holders of the power hasn't wanted to."

"What? How could they not want to?!" bursts out Eren.

"Because the will of the First King is imposed on every Riess who has the power. Before my brother took it on we both talked about how he'd use it to change everything, defeat the Titans and set things right. But after the ceremony was over he'd changed. The First King desired a world where Mankind bowed down to the rule of the Titans. He didn't want us to defeat them, he didn't want us to go beyond the Walls. That wish is imposed on every Riess as soon as they take on the Coordinate power."

'That's why Grisha stole it!' I exclaim. 'Because he knew that he would be immune to the First King's will. He thought he might be able to defeat the Titans himself.'

"So, if I do this," says Historia, "I won't want to defeat the Titans. I'll just reclaim Wall Maria alter everyone's memories and we'll all just keep on crouching inside of this cage."

"If you don't then the balance will never be restored. Mankind will be attacked again and again, and eventually they will break through. All of Humanity will be devoured and the Titans will be the only living things in existence."

"What you're saying is that we don't have any choice about how we live. It doesn't matter how hard people like the Scouts try, we'll never be able to beat them? That in the end we're all just like livestock trapped inside of our pen, and if we try to get out we let in the wolves?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. It's tragic I know, but it's already far too late. All the hope of mankind vanished the day the Titans came. The day that boy decided that he didn't want to die." Riess finishes with a look of pure hatred in my direction.

"There's no hope for the future, only sitting where we are is that it? The world has fallen and all we can do is accept it?" Historia scowls. "No, I won't believe that. Mankind isn't destined to spend the rest of its life hiding behind Walls. It doesn't matter who the First King is or how he's opposing us; we are going to defeat him. I believe that despair is for people who know without a doubt what the future holds, and none of us are in that position. We don't have the right to despair; we don't have the right to give up. Humanity's future lies outside the Walls and I'm going to help clear the way. As long as one of us can say that, then this isn't over!"

Before any of us can say anything the sound of an explosion rips into the chamber.